Remnant Ascending
by TheeLoreMaster
Summary: Only a few days after the Second Titan War, Percy wakes up to find that his life's course has been altered forever. For he's no longer on Earth, but in a strange and foreign land without any gods. But with a demigod's help, can the world of Remnant and the people who live within ascend to new heights? Or, like Icarus, will they burn and crash to the ground. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This will be my first real try at a fanfiction (I won't count my attempts back when I was 12, because I was 12.) Any feedback or advice, positive or negative, will be welcomed. It may not be followed if I feel like it contrasts with where I eventually want this story to go, but it will be welcomed and at least considered none the less. The inspirations for this story are Demigods of Remnant by MythicalParadox and Moonlight by Greed720. Please support those works as well. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 1: A New World

* * *

The first thing Percy saw when he woke up was darkness. Well, one doesn't really see darkness, but he couldn't see anything, so darkness was a good description. Wait…his eyes were closed. That would probably explain why he couldn't see anything.

The first thing he heard was the rustling of leaves. It sounded like wind blowing through trees. Perhaps he was in a forest. He could be in a park, or just a street where there were trees on the side. But he felt the grass he was lying on, so it probably wasn't a street. He couldn't really see where exactly it was. That was probably because his eyes were still closed. It seems he forgot to open them, apparently.

The first thing Percy saw when he opened his eyes was that he was, indeed, in a forest. It would be best to try to find the nearest city. See if he could get a read on where he was. After all, last he remembered, he wasn't in a forest. The last thing Percy remembered was being on…

Where was he last?

Mount Olympus?

There was the battle…and then…and then…!

* * *

_ Percy stood there, over Luke's corpse, when he heard the gods and surviving campers enter. He wasn't certain exactly what happened. He thought somebody asked him exactly what happened here. He couldn't really answer that. He was still processing that much for himself. But…he knew one thing._

_ "We need a hero's shroud," Percy began. He swallowed. There was no way Percy could know how everybody would react. It didn't matter though. For the time being, their thoughts weren't important. What was important, however, was honoring those who gave their lives to stop Kronos across the Battle of Manhattan. "For a son of Hermes. For Luke Castellan."_

_ He blinked the tears out of his eyes. Luke's life may have been the sacrifice that finally stopped Kronos, but it wasn't the only live lost. Many others were lost getting to that point. And yet, Percy should've died. Everybody thought he was going to. The prophecy had said so. They all thought it had._

_ But it hadn't._

_ Percy lived, and others died. They gave their lives for Olympus. Percy may have been the hero before, but not today. Today, the heroes were his friends. All the brave souls who lost their lives defending Olympus when they shouldn't have had to. They were the ones who had sacrificed the most to let the world live to see the light of tomorrow. It was their victory-not Percy's._

* * *

_ The ceremonies to honor the dead were both short and long. It had taken a couple of days, but it felt like the battle had ended only a couple of minutes ago to Percy. He could still feel the blood pounding in his ears, and feel the adrenaline when he woke up. _

_ The losses were far too many in Percy's mind. Not just for this battle, bot for the whole war. Charles Beckendorf. Silena Beauragaurd. Lee Fletcher. Michael Yew. Castor. Bianca. Zoe. And dozens more. That's not even counting the defectors who dies fighting as well. Including both Ethan and Luke. Everybody mourned. They mourned for family. They mourned for friends. They mourned out of love, and out of respect._

_ But nobody mourned the lost more than Percy. He had taken each person lost personally. He felt the weight of each death weighing on his shoulders. He mourned for the loss of his friends, and for the loss of his soldiers. But when the nightmares came, the thing he mourned for most of all, was his sanity. _

_ After all the shrouds were burned, and all the dead were sent off to Hades's clutches, Olympus finally felt ready to celebrate. The celebrations lasted even longer than the funerals, as Olympus partied in honor of the defeat of the titans, and the surviving heroes who helped to do it. Nearly everybody participated. Even Hades could be seen with one of Dionysus's drinks in hand. Even Artemis spent time talking and dancing with her few remaining hunters._

_ Percy, however stayed at the edges of the city of Olympus, trying not to let his distraught state effect the others who deserved this moment of happiness. He just couldn't let go of those who died yet. That's not to say he didn't talk to people. Percy had many visitors who tried to help him out. His father and his cousins of course. Other head councilors like the Stolls and Katie Gardner also visited. Some of the friendlier gods like Hermes and Apollo tried to offer him some drinks. Nothing seemed to work though. Not even Annabeth could cheer him up. It would simply take time. _

_ Then, at the end of the week of partying, Hermes told him that Zeus requested his presence in the throne room. And so Percy stood from the bench he was sitting on, and followed the messenger god into the heart of Olympus._

* * *

_ The meeting was an unusual one. For one: It was short. It wasn't 3 or 4 hours. It was barely one. For two: It wasn't filled with the usual squabbling. Oh, it still existed. But the squabbling didn't overshadow the important stuff. That was the third thing. There was important stuff. Even then, it barely cut through Percy's mourning. He had trouble focusing when his father told Zeus that the demigods needed to be accounted for. He could barely remember a word of Zeus's speeches afterwards._

_ Still, Percy was aware enough to understand what was happening. He was being rewarded. He didn't exactly deserve a reward. After everything that had happened, he barely deserved to live. Many of the deceased would've deserved the reward far more than Percy would've. But it was Percy who lived, and got the rewards in the end. _

_ Percy understood exactly what the reward was. It was godhood, and it was the greatest reward he could possibly receive. But he knew, when he heard it, that it was not the road he wanted to walk down. There were many reasons. The first one was the shame he would feel, knowing that for leading others to death in battle, killing other demigods in battle even, he would be rewarded by never experiencing the same fate. The second was the people he would leave behind if he were to accept immortality. His friends that he fought alongside, like Grover and Nico and Thalia. Even more importantly than them, his girlfriend Annabeth. He could not imagine an eternity without the love of his life. Most importantly, though, was his mortal family. His mother, and Paul. Because his friends were part of the immortal world. And maybe he could get permission to make them semi-immortal, like Artemis's huntresses. But it would never happen for the mortals in his life. Even more than those close to him though, Percy new the true reason. 'Immortality must be a harsh curse on father and Triton', Percy remembered thinking. Because the sea does not like to be restrained. And there was no way that Percy would willingly subject himself to the chains knows as The Ancient Laws._

_ So Percy turned down the offer. He chose not to become a god. Instead, he used his reward for something more fitting. Making sure this war never happened again. He gave rights to the minor gods. He gave rights to the peaceful titans. He gave rights to the demigods. Because ultimately, this war got out of hand because the Olympian gods denied everybody else the same rights that they themselves took for granted. The rights of being respected. Of being relatively safe. Of having people looking out for them. Percy returned those rights to everyone. And perhaps, that would be able to lift a little of the burden off his shoulders._

* * *

Getting up slowly, Percy took in his surroundings. The trees were tall, and light barely seemed to filter through them. There seemed to be no roads nearby. No real signs of life at all. No birds chirping or even wind blowing. It was eerie. Even without the lack of sound, something felt off. It was like something dark, evil even, existed nearby. It was strange to say, but it was nature that felt unnatural.

Ever since meeting Pan, Percy could feel something in nature. Something about nature. It was always there. Even in cities, it was there. But it was far stronger in nature. Even in parks, or small forested areas. In the woods out in the middle of nowhere? It was normally at its strongest in such areas. But Percy felt nothing here. Not even the small amount in the cities. Just, nothing.

It was unnerving, and it stayed on Percy's mind as he began to move. Thoughts of why there were no signs of life. Questions of why this natural area felt so abnormal. Worries and theories of what might have caused it all. Of course, those weren't the only things on Percy's mind.

He still couldn't get rid of the guilt. He still felt the weight of the deaths of his friends. He still felt the pain that he felt during each funeral and memorial. He still could see the burning embers and leftover ashes of each shroud that was lit aflame, burning shortly, yet brightly, like the lives of each demigod they represented.

It bothered him. It bothered Percy that so many of his friends were dead. It bothered Percy that the world felt so unnatural. It bothered Percy that he couldn't detect any signs of life. But what bothered Percy most of all, was that he still couldn't remember how he got here.

Everything was fuzzy. It was all clouded and tainted by the depression and mourning he had been going through. But still, he remembered the end of the battle. Luke's sacrifice. His demands that even the traitors be given their honors. The making of the shrouds. The funerals. The fires. The celebrations. The partying. The drinking. The rewards ceremony.

Finally, Percy could hear something beyond his own footfalls cutting through the silence. It was the rushing of water, trickling over rocks and around bends. Percy may have been a city person, but he knew enough to know exactly what that sound meant. It meant a river nearby. The only question, was if it was important to go towards it.

Percy turned and made for the sound. The water always calmed him. Maybe it could alleviate him of some of the pain in his chest. Maybe it could grant him some sort of respite. Even more importantly, it could give Percy something to follow. Some direction to head in, even if just to be able to tell himself that he wasn't completely lost-that he was going somewhere.

It wasn't long before he reached the river. It hadn't made an extremely loud sound. It was only due to the unnerving silence of the rest of the world, and his enhanced demigod senses, that Percy had been able to hear it in the first place, so it could only be heard if nearby. As such, it only made sense to him that it was a short walk before he reached the river.

First came off his shoes. Of course, he could keep his clothes completely dry. But he wanted to wet his feet in the water. So after his shoes and socks were off, Percy stepped in. It wasn't a big river. It was only as deep as his waist at its deepest, and only a dozen yards wide at its widest. Percy waked all the way out to the center of the river. But even at the first step he knew it wouldn't help.

Water had always seemed to have his back in the past. It helped him through thick and thin. But not now. The guilt still weighed on him. It still ate at him. In fact, the water didn't even seem to do what it normally did. His mind wasn't any clearer. He didn't even feel more awake. It was almost like how a normal person would feel.

Frustrated, Percy dipped his hands into the water, and cupped it, before bringing it up to his face. Wetting and washing his face, Percy groaned and looked up.

Then he gasped.

He had noticed that it was night. The sky was dark, and the stars were out. They were bright and numerous. More so than he had ever seen before. This place may have been unnatural, but it was seemingly untouched by pollution, and the rest of mankind. That, however, was not what shocked him. Such an honor, instead, went to the moon in the sky. It was no normal moon though. It was broken. More than half of it was intact, but the rest was in large pieces.

As he stared at the fragmented moon, his eyes widened to a near impossible size. Only one thought ran through Percy's head. And strangely enough for a demigod, it was not related to Artemis or her chariot. It was not a question of what had happened. Instead, it was a memory.

* * *

_It took a while to get everybody off of Olympus and back to camp. With nobody really having valuables, people slept wherever they wanted during the party, usually on benches or tables or couches. If people felt insecure about sleeping randomly, most Olympians offered their children rooms in their palaces. With the reward ceremony done and the party over, people had to travel back to camp. With it unclear how many monsters were still left, and nobody wanting to risk attracting them with such a large group of demigods, people only left Olympus when Argus came back from ferrying the previous group. The whole process took hours. Percy stayed in the last group with most of the remaining camp counselors._

_He made a little bit of small talk as they all waited, but for the most part, kept to himself. By the time they had gotten into the van back to camp, most of them had decided to take short naps. It was at least an hour past midnight, after all. The Stolls, Nico, and Katie were all napping in their various seats. Jake Mason looked like he was working on blueprints for something in the front. Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy had sat in the back, with Annabeth taking the center seat. Even though they were all silent, none of them were asleep. _

"_It's not your fault, Percy." Percy turned from the window so fast that it hurt. Annabeth was staring at Percy with compassionate grey eyes. She was the one who had broken the silence. Thalia was staring at Annabeth, attention drawn by the sudden sound._

_Percy just looked back at Annabeth. He heard her words, and thought them over. But he had nothing to say, so he remained silent._

"_I'm serious. I was the tactician. I came up with the strategies. I was the one who had assigned them their locations. The frontlines where they would eventually die. If it was anybody's fault that they're gone, it's mine." Her words were backed up by sense and logic, like they always were. He couldn't really find fault in them. But still…_

"_I know that," Percy responded, eyes a stormy sea green, full of turmoil. "But I still led them there. I was the one they had confidence in. You may have been the one that assigned them their positions. But I was the one who inspired them to fight. To fight till their last breath. I was the one who inspired them to die."_

"_And because of that, and because of the sacrifice that you inspired them to, Olympus is still standing. The world is safe. If you hadn't a great many more would've died."_

_There was a pause between them, as Percy contemplated her words. It was a pause that Thalia chose to use to chime in. "You only had to because I had turned down the prophecy by joining the hunters in the first place. If I had let it go off back then. Things wouldn't have gotten this far. And even then, even if I wound up dumping the responsibility on you, I still led the Hunters. They followed __**me**__. Their blood is on __**my**__ hands."_

_As she started speaking, Thalia had drawn the attention of both Percy and Annabeth. Her electric blue eyes were a bit duller now, and no less tumultuous than those of anybody else in the back of Argus's van. Percy turned back towards the window for a few minutes. After the silence had drawn out for a bit, Percy turned back to them, ready to conclude his thoughts on the matter._

"_Being leader isn't all it's cracked up to be. It isn't a blessing or a privilege. It's a curse."_

_Annabeth and Thalia stared back at him. "Percy, that may have been the wisest thing I've ever heard you say. And it was quite wise, that's not just me trying to insult you," Annabeth answered. While the fact that she had to clarify the statement as a compliment may have been funny at any other time, nothing in her tone indicated that she was joking._

_Thalia nodded. "It seems that we're on the same line of thinking for once, Kelp Head. Gods, I can't imagine how Zoe dealt with this for thousands of years. It really raises my respect for her. I thought the pressures of leadership were the worst part about it. It took until a week ago for me to realize just how wrong I was." _

_Percy nodded, and turned to the front. The van had left the city at some point in the conversation, and the hill was just up ahead. They soon came to a stop outside the big house. As the engine died, Thalia, Annabeth, Jake, and Percy began to wake everybody up. Well, awake enough for them to get up and head off to bed anyways. _

_Argus got out to turn in for the night too. It was the last trip from Olympus, and with Peleus always on watch, he was free to get some well-deserved rest. Annabeth and Percy walked briefly with Thalia to her cabin as everyone else shambled over to their own cabins. Soon, the pair were right outside of Athena's cabin. They were the last two outside._

_Annabeth looked at me. There was still some worry in her eyes. It seemed she was attempting to cheer Percy up with the conversation in the van. It appeared not to have worked out as she had liked. Finally, she blinked and the gaze was broken. She walked up to Percy, and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I love you, Percy. Goodnight, and sweet dreams."_

"_I love you too, Annabeth. And good night." With those final words exchanged, Annabeth turned into her cabin._

_It wasn't a long walk across the clearing to get back to the Poseidon cabin. Percy spend it in silence. Nobody left awake and out to talk to, he just walked slowly to his cabin, reflecting on everything that happened the past summer. The mission with Beckendorf, and his death. The training for the final battle. The fight between the Apollo and Ares cabins over the chariot. Going to the underworld and taking a dip in the Styx. Being in Hades's prison. Escaping the underworld. Arriving in New York City. Coming up with the plans. Getting the aid of the river gods. The peace talks with Prometheus. Every fight and area in the battle that he visited and helped. Defeating Hyperion in single combat, or at least suppressing him long enough for the satyrs to turn him into a tree. The final fight in the Throne Room. The funerals. The parties. The rewards. Even the ride home._

_As he turned into his cabin for the night, Percy gave one last look at the night. The last things he saw outside were the huntress constellation, and the unbroken, full moon._

* * *

_Percy's in the old apartment that he and his mom lived in back when she was still married to Gabe. And right there, in front of him. Stood Gabe. Or it least, it looked like Gabe. Percy could tell it wasn't Gabe, however. He didn't have quite the same sneer as Gabe, and he gave off power that could only be related to the gods._

"_Who are you?" Percy asked, preparing to defend himself. Only, it seemed he had no corporeal form. A demigod dream, then. The realization did nothing to ease Percy's worries._

"_Who do I appear as to you?" Percy thought for a moment, debating whether or not to answer. Then he sighed._

"_Gabe Ugliano," he answered, short and simple._

"_Your old stepfather, hmm? Can you guess who I am, dear?"_

"_Honestly? I have no idea."_

"_Really? That's a shame. I had expected more from the great Savior of Olympus. I'm Ethan's mother."_

_Percy gasped slightly at the realization. Then his eyes hardened a little. Or, as much as they could, without him actually having eyes in his dream form. "Nemesis."_

"_Yes. I am Nemesis." Her form shifted before Percy, transforming into a beautiful woman in her 20s. She had mid-length black hair, and chocolate brown eyes. "Do you know why I am here?"_

"_I have no idea." While still a little tense, Percy had relaxed in his tone and mind set after her form had changed. While he wasn't any less suspicious of her like this, he would always be inherently uncomfortable around Gabe, or anyone using his form._

"_I am the goddess of Revenge, Perseus. And I was on Kronos's side during the war."_

_She hadn't really stated anything, but Percy tensed up even more than before at the implication. "You're here to punish me, then." It was more of a statement, than a question._

_The woman took on a bitter smile. "Honestly, I do not wish to. You got me some respect amongst the Olympians, and a cabin in the camp. I wish I could repay you. Reward you. But life does not always work out the way we want. I am the goddess of revenge, and as such, I am duty-bound by my domains to take revenge on you."_

_Percy would've mirrored Nemesis's expression, had he any form. There was no way he could hate her if she was bound by her domains and, truly regretted what she had to do. "I guess I won't be living to see an abnormally long demigod life after all. I really will die at 16-just a few weeks after what I had previously expected."_

"_You will survive yet still, Percy. I am not taking my revenge by killing you. You will live. But you will never see your family or friends again. I am banishing you, Perseus, to another realm. One outside of the gods' influence."_

_Percy's heart sank. "W-What? Another realm?"_

_Her eyes held a true regret and sadness. "I am sorry, Perseus, but this is the way it must be. But do not despair, for it is not all bad. I am sending you to a realm with no gods to dictate you, no fate to control you, and no mist to bind you. In the world I send you to, you will be completely free to make your own life. And I implore you to do so, on behalf of myself, the minor gods who owe you, and your family and friends who you have seen for the last. You will not be able to return to this world. So do not waste your life away trying to do so. Instead, take both hands and carve out a new life for yourself, with new friends to be happy with, and live to the fullest."_

_She waited for a moment, but Percy had nothing to say. Or rather, nothing he could say. He was still in too much shock from what he had been told. So Nemesis set her face into a neutral mask, closed her eyes, raised her arms, and muttered under her breath. Then the world began to fade to darkness. It encompassed Percy, until he was aware no longer._

* * *

As he came back from his memories, the truth was clear to Percy. The moon was broken because he was in another world. And nothing had happened to Artemis, because there were no gods in this world.

He wasn't the son of this world's sea god. It had no sea god. And Percy remembered how entering the water changed nothing for him. So he closed his eyes, and felt his connection to the water.

It was still there…sort of. He felt the power over the water inside of him. And he felt the water outside of him. But they weren't connected. He and the water were separate. Worried over his abilities to face whatever threat this new world would pose to him, Percy reached out to the water itself. He sought to restore the connection.

He tugged on the water, and it tugged back. He tugged again, and it tugged back again. And slowly, inch by inch, the gap was closed. And when he, and his power of water, and the water itself, finally touched, a bond was formed. One as unbreakable, and as unshakable, as the one he had back on Earth.

In an instant, Percy felt alive. It was like he had been half asleep ever since he woke up. Suddenly, his mind was sharpened. His senses, finely tuned. He felt like he normally did when he walked into water. It was what had been missing earlier.

It felt even greater than normal. He could feel the water as it turned around the bend a couple hundred yards down from where he was. He could see each blade of grass that stood on the river bank. He was invigorated by the cold chill of the night air across his skin.

And as Percy connected with the water, the world changed.

* * *

In a cold, dark, lab, deep under the school, there was a strange device. It consisted of two pods, each large enough to hold up a person. They were both connected to each other by a number of wires and tubes. There were also a great deal of wires connecting each of these pods to the third component-a large computer.

In one of these pods, there was a person. A young lady. There, she lay asleep, barely visible through the frosted over lid of the pod. She had short brown hair of shoulder-length, which complimented the light brown complexion of her skin. She wore nothing but her white undergarments. Her most notable feature, was an oddly shaped scar on her face, covering most of its left side, especially around her eye.

There she lay, chest slowly rising and falling, almost imperceptibly. To the outside world, she seemed dead, unable to wake or move the slightest inch. And it was nearly true. Even the best of military-grade modern medical technology could barely keep her alive. However, reacting to some strange shift in the air, she stirred. Only for a moment. But it was there. Nobody was there to observe it, but had they been, they'd be able to see her golden eyes, blinking open to observe an unseen change in the world.

* * *

The Branwen camp was silent in the middle of the night. There were a few guards on watch, surrounding the fenced in area that was filled of barely structurally-sound tents and scatter stolen boxes. They were mostly still, however, as was the forest that they watched. They kept their emotions masked and neutral, in order to ensure that they alerted no Grimm to the location of their settlement.

The rest of the camp was asleep, including their leader. Said leader was a woman in her thirties, named Raven Branwen, who resided in the large black tent in the middle of the camp. It stood twice as tall, twice as wide, and twice as long, as any of the other tents in the area. There could be no mistaking it. It was in this tent, that Raven Branwen suddenly shot awake.

She looked far younger than she was, and was battle ready even in sleep, wearing her red gauntlets and protective mask. She made sure to keep her large sword right next to her bed, in arms reach in case of intruders. She had pale skin, jet black messy hair, and crimson colored eyes.

Something had changed. Raven could tell that much. She wasn't certain to exactly what it was, but the air felt different. It wasn't some sort of feeling of danger, or a presence nearby. It wasn't the mood of mourning, or the depression of failure. It was much less placeable.

But much more important. Something in the world had changed. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew. She could feel it. The powers of the maiden held inside of her could feel it. And that, perhaps more than anything else, was what was most disconcerting about the feeling.

* * *

In a small tent in the middle of the woods, Cinder Fall woke quietly. The tent was one of three in the small clearing, as she gave both of her minions their own tents. Nobody would say she didn't take care of those who would die loyally for her.

The small trio didn't have any guards positioned on watch. They didn't need to. They directly served Salem, the mistress of the Grimm. And they would not be attacked if Salem did not wish it so. They didn't need to fear any other outsiders, either. For anybody else, it would be considered suicide to walk this far into a such a Grimm infested forest as this one. They could rest easy due to the natural wildlife.

Cinder didn't wake out of concern for her safety. She didn't wake to take watch. And she most certainly didn't wake up for anything is trivial as a need to use the bathroom. No. It was a change in the air, almost like some kind of shockwave washing over her, that woke her up.

She sat silent for a minute, internally reflecting on the feeling. But there wasn't much discernible about it. She certainly could tell that the power inside of her had felt something-reacted, to something. But she didn't know what. Not for the first time, Cinder cursed Qrow for preventing her from finishing the extraction of the powers of the fall maiden. If she had the full powers, maybe she'd be able to learn more about this feeling.

Alas, she didn't have the fall maiden's full powers. She only had half of them. So as much as she loathed not knowing, it was something that she would have to put up with for now. Thusly, she calmed her mind, slowed her breathing, and eventually, fell back asleep.

* * *

Ozpin sat in his office. The new school year was coming up, and this generation of incoming students had perhaps the greatest potential of all. Not only was an amazing crop coming up from Signal Academy, but there was an especially special selection of other talent as well.

There were a couple of survivors from a village outside one of the main Kingdoms. Such people were rare. After all, one would have to be both incredibly luckily, and exceptionally skilled, in order to survive an attack large enough to destroy a village, and survive the trip back to one of the kingdoms without the aid of any huntsmen.

There was a Schnee. The Schnee had been a talented family for generations, due primarily to their inherited semblance. It allowed for refined control over dust, strange and extraordinary feats like the defiance of gravity, and even the summoning of one's defeated enemies to their side. The Schnee were also renowned for their dedication, their drive, and their perfectionist mindset that allowed them to reach incredible heights in nearly anything and everything they did.

There was also an ex-criminal. A runaway member of the terrorist group, The White Fang. She hadn't put it on her application of course, but discovering it only took a small effort from a man with as many resources as Ozpin had. She had survived for years in White Fang camps outside of the kingdom of Vale, and she had immense experience from the times she participated in attacks herself, and she knew life and death battle better than nearly any other incoming freshman.

And of course, Ozpin would be a fool if he didn't include Mistral's four-time champion, Pyrrha Nikos to the list. She was like no other in the history of the tournament. She had barely even been touched throughout the entire thing, and that was across four times. The most recent tournament even had young people coming from afar to challenge her position, to no avail.

Yes, this year would boast many great huntsmen for the future indeed, and Ozpin would gladly mold them into humanity's defenders in their coming years. As Ozpin looked over the applications, quietly sipping coffee from his mug so he could keep going late into the night. And as he did so, he felt something wash over him. There was a powerful presence, unlike any other he had felt before. It was only there for a brief moment, but it was there. It had an effect even after he felt the presence vanish. Something had shifted in the world. Yes, the very world itself had felt different than it had in a long time. A long time indeed.

If only he had a better memory, and a stronger will to remember from all those years ago, Ozpin might be able to tell more about it. For now, he would have to send some of his best agents to investigate. He knew not the exact location-only that the pulse came from the West. It was a mission that had no time parameters, no clear objective, and no clear location. Not to mention it would be extremely important. If only Raven or Summer were still here, or Qrow weren't already on an information-gathering mission. Ozpin sighed.

* * *

Deep in the deadly wilds lay an environment vastly different from any other in this world. It held purple and red crystals, a red sky, and more Grimm than any other place in the world. And embedded in the ground was the only man-made structure that one would be able to see. Although, despite being man-made, it could barely be could human in design. This was the lair of Salem, and in this lair sat the world's greatest threat-the mistress of Grimm herself.

She had red veins visible from underneath her pale skin, but somehow managed an ethereal beauty in spite of it. Perhaps it was her white hair, or her piercing red eyes that matched those of the Grimm she controlled. Perhaps it was the eye-catching red diamond on her forehead. Or perhaps it was the imposing figure she cut in her flowing black dress. It didn't matter what the source was though. If anyone were to be in the same room or even the same building as her, they'd be able to feel the beauty and power that emanated from her. For better or worse, Salem was known widely amongst those that knew of her existence as the greatest being, the highest lifeform, on Remnant.

Salem was not necessarily in a good mood right now. For she, for the first time in thousands of years, was worried-nervous. She had just felt something that she know should not be here. At first she had only felt a light ripple of energy. Of course, just because it was small didn't make it insignificant. She could sense at all the way from the dark shrine, after all. This power had appeared in even smaller ripples again every few minutes for the past couple of hours. But then it changed. When she next felt it, it was no longer a ripple. It was an immense pulse, and the size of it left her wondering if Ozpin had somehow made a new maiden. But such a thing should've been impossible. He shouldn't have had enough magical energy left to do that. So she looked into what she had felt more, trying to discern what it was. Not finding much there, other than that the energy was different even from Salem's or Ozpin's (which also, shouldn't have been possible), she searched her memory, delving back to a time when magic was more prominent.

It was in this search, that she came to a realization. And if the epiphany tore through her like a lightning bolt, then the fear was the thunderclap that followed it. For this power _was_ familiar. Distantly familiar, but oh so distinctly recognizable. For the last time she had felt this was the day that the world changed, and became permanently scarred. It was the day that the moon was shattered. That, Salem knew, was the last day that she, or anyone on this world, felt divine energies. And although the strength of those energies were nothing when compared to back then, the fact that they existed-**that they were here!**-was a bad thing for Salem. And she couldn't help but wonder if her (and everyone's for that matter) time was up.

* * *

Know that it was back, Percy knew what he had been missing. He had felt like a normal human. An extremely powerful one, but human all the same. With his connection to water, the nature, and even the wider world back, he knew that it was the other half of him that had been missing. Now he felt like a demigod again. He knew it was an arrogant thought to have, but he felt more than human once more, and in all his years, it was only now that he was able to make the distinction.

He sat there, relieved that he felt whole again. Whole…but still unhappy. Still depressed. Even as he gained his connection back, he remembered the others who had such a connection. Who had a godly half. And her remembered just how many of them died in battle. Just how many fell so recently. And his heart mourned for them even now.

As he stood in the water, performing an odd combination of mental and emotional tasks-both reveling and mourning, Percy heard a noise. It was small. Barely audible. It was a sniffing sound.

Suddenly aware, Percy shot up and reached into his pants. Even as he did so, he began to panic. _I'm in a new world. I've been sent here by Nemesis. Yet only, now, when I may be surrounded, that I think to check if I even still have Riptide?_ His worries were quickly calmed as his hand wrapped around a very familiar pen in his pocket, and he pulled it out, keeping it capped.

Percy's head shot to the left as he heard a sound. A footstep, he decided. But he saw nothing, no disturbances. It was just as he wondered if he was being paranoid that his battle instincts kicked in. In a split second, his control over water went off, and he shot himself from the river to over twenty feet in the air. From there, he could see the unnatural shadowy wolf-like creature below him. Not only that, but he could see a few that were hiding in the bushes and trees too. No wonder he saw nothing. They would've blended in perfectly with the darkness of the night of not for the bone-white armoring on them. Oh. And the demonic glowing red eyes.

As Percy landed, he winced lightly. Turned out that landing bare feet on pebbles from being more than twenty feet in the air somehow managed to hurt more than stepping on a Lego.

Seeing the perceived weakness, one of the shadowy creatures leaped at Percy from the treeline, but in a flash of bronze, the monster of this world found itself headless. Settling in a battle stance, Percy pointed his sword towards the treeline. The monster in the water made a move for Percy as well, only to find that it somehow was disappearing from the stab wounds all over its body. It couldn't imagine how those got there. After all, the human couldn't have made them, and the only things touching the Grimm's body were water and air.

With two beasts down, Percy heard a howl come from across the river, and more shadowy wolf-like beasts began to come out of the woods all around him. The trees, the bushes, and even from across the river. Seeing the number, Percy's face set, his lips turning to a straight and focused line.

And for the first time since coming to this world, Percy wasn't frowning. He wasn't mourning. For it seemed that even if the small passage of time, the comforting ceremonies, and the upheaving events couldn't heal Percy's wounded soul, then at least the slaying of monsters, no matter which world, could distract him from its pain.

* * *

A/N: ' That was unbelievably satisfying to write. I had a fanfiction account before this one in the past, but I was 12 or 13, and a really crappy writer. I also didn't have the creative juices to get beyond a couple thousand words in one chapter, in spite of my ideas and love for stories possessing longer chapters. Now having finished my first year at college, the difference in my writing is night and day.

I'm not going to elaborate on every mysterious thing that happened in this chapter. If there are any questions, I'll answer them in future Author's Notes…if it's not about something I want to keep intentionally vague for later reveals.

All reviews will be welcomed, especially ones with feedback or advice. Just so long as it's not something useless, such as "Nice chapter. Plz update." PMs are welcome too, especially if you have suggestions or theories. I'd love to see what you all think.

Until next time!' -TheeLoreMaster


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: To those who read the first chapter before it got updated, I'm sorry for the formatting errors and lack of lines showing when one scene ended and another began. That must've been painful and confusing to read. They're fixed now, and every other time from here on, since I know how to make those lines now.**

**More story formatting:**

**Review Responses-How do you all want me to do review responses? I don't think I'll respond to every review-that said, ones with more interesting and eye-catching questions, observations, and suggestions might get noted. That said, if you all want, I can skip any review response and move straight to the story.**

**End questions-Somebody mentioned that some people might post relatively arbitrary reviews simply to get the review count up for a story that they think deserves it. Personally, I care about any criticism that can improve my story in the eyes of both myself and other writers far more than I do about review counts, but that's not what I'm here to address. If people leave arbitrary reviews simply because they have nothing better to say, then my question is as follows: Would it help if at the end of each chapter, I asked some specific questions to prompt thought about the story and ideas for more meaningful content in their reviews?**

**That's all for now-Let's move onwards with story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or RWBY.**

* * *

It wasn't until after Percy had finally capped his sword that he paused and took a look around the river to really observe what was going on. It was a strange phenomenon to him. Looking back at the battle, his sword shouldn't have been able to cut through these shadowy creatures. Nemesis had told him that the world he was being sent to was one without gods. So it should have nothing in it that was important enough for celestial bronze to cut.

Or perhaps it was the opposite. Perhaps celestial bronze just cut the most important things in whatever world it was in. And since the world was godless, did that mean it would be able to cut things like animals and humans now, rather than gods and the monsters that they had spawned? Or were these shadowy creatures considered to be more important than humans? It was a question that he had yet to have an answer to. In fact, when he thought about it, Percy didn't even know if humans existed in this world.

It was an odd thing to think. What would he do if there were no humans in this new realm. Would he live his entire life alone? Just surviving and fighting these…well, he decided he would call them Shadow Wolves. That would be quite a lonely existence. It would've been much better if Nemesis had just killed him if that were to be the case. At least then, he'd be able to see his friends in the afterlife. What a shame would it be for Percy, after everything he's struggled and survived through, to be fated to spend his life alone in the woods, surviving for as long as he could until he became overwhelmed, only to be sent to no afterlife, and just cease to exist.

Perhaps it would be best to make a cabin out here in the woods, as best he could anyways, and start carving out an environment in which he could honor the memories of the friends he lost in the war against the titans? _No_, Percy resolved. It would be quite the shame to live such a lonely existence. That's why he would not give up on finding other civilization. He'd travel as best as he could for a year, and if he could find nothing after that? Well, maybe then he'd see if he even the tiniest bit of Annabeth's architectural knowledge had rubbed off on him.

Looking around himself, Percy noted that the similarities between the Shadow Wolves and the monsters he was used to did not end at their aggressive nature, inhuman power, and somewhat mindless bloodlust. Strangely enough, these creatures were also dissolving to dust, and leaving nothing behind. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same. They dissolved slowly, rather than exploding into golden powder. And speaking of golden, the color of the strange dust left behind was the same shadowy color of these creatures. He hoped that he could find other animals in this forest. Food would be hard if the only meat he came across didn't actually leave any meat behind.

After he finished his observations and contemplations, Percy put back on his footwear and entered the river once more. He paused for a moment in the middle, reveling slightly in the connection. He considered just following the river to make sure he stayed a straight path, and perhaps even could find a source of food in the form of fish…if they existed in this world. In the end, however, he decided against it. There wasn't any particularly strong reason he had for doing so either. He simply wanted to explore out further into the woods instead.

Lowering his head down, Percy took a long drink of the flowing river water. It didn't matter how dirty the water might be. It was the only water he had for now, and dirty water was better than no water. Plus, had no idea when he would next come across a good water source. Best to make use of it while it was right here in front of him. Hopefully it wouldn't matter all that much anyway. He was a demigod after all. His immune system was strong enough that it would take a lot more than a few germs to make him sick.

After he finished quenching his thirst, Percy swiftly finished crossing the river. As he exited, he did so with a strong and renewed goal. Find intelligent civilization in this new world, and learn about this new realm that he had been thrown into. He was not keen on living the rest of his days as a hermit from age 16.

* * *

Ozpin considered himself lucky that his friend wasn't in a meeting. After all, in spite of everything that was on his plate, it could be argued that Ironwood was the busier of the two. And of all of his allies, James Ironwood was the one that Ozpin wanted to consult the most right now. Of course, part of that was because many of Ozpin's most trusted were either on missions, or were dead. The other part of it was that James Ironwood was the closest thing to an equal that Ozpin had when it came to the war against Salem and the Grimm.

That's not to say that they were equal in power. Or in knowledge. Or in experience. No, they were equals in ideals. Ozpin had so much experience and knowledge when it came to the war against Salem that nearly everybody he trusted immediately deferred to him. Qrow followed him without question. Glynda followed him without question. Most of the other headmasters followed him without question. But Ironwood, on the other hand, did not. He had his own ideas of how things should get done. He operated individually. He made many mistakes, screwed up many times. But of all the people who followed him, James was the one who had ideas of his own. The one who would stand up to Ozpin, and argue with him on how things should be done. And that, was what made him the closest person to an equal that Ozpin had in the war against Salem.

Normally, this wasn't always a good thing. James would often make bullheaded and foolish decisions that had the potential to erase much progress. But right now, Ozpin needed somebody who could tell him 'no'. Because everybody, even Ozpin, made mistakes. In fact, everybody, especially Ozpin, has made mistakes. And Ozpin was at a crossroads. Having detected the new power, for the first time in a while, he had no idea what to do. How to approach this anomaly. So in deciding how to face this unknown, he needed to be able to make mistakes, and have somebody behind him who could know that such a thing was a possibility, and who had a different way of doing things to catch those mistakes, and the whatever problems they may create.

So yes, Ozpin considered himself lucky that James wasn't in a meeting. In fact, when Ozpin called him using the CCT, James was able to respond in less than a minute.

"Hello Ozpin. What a pleasant surprise," James greeted. Ozpin could hear rustling coming from the other end. It seems he had caught James in the middle of some paperwork.

"Hello James. How are you?" Ozpin returned.

"A bit busy, as usual, but for the most part I'm fine. How are things over at Beacon?"

"We've been doing quite well, getting ready for the upcoming school year and such."

There was a pause in the background noise from James's end of the call as he seemed to consider his response. A time period in which Ozpin used to take a sip of his coffee. Then James spoke.

"Yes, I suppose the upcoming school year is a relatively large important event. I understand it that you have quite the incoming class. But…I presume that is not what you've called me about, is it?"

Ozpin sighed and put down his coffee mug. "No, James, it is not. I've called for something else."

"Then why don't we move forward with this. I'm sure neither of us have a day to spare on naught but idle chit-chat."

Ozpin chuckled lightly. "Very well. But in that case, why don't we switch to more…private channels of communication."

Ironwood's groan from the other end was audible. "Is it that serious?"

"Indeed."

"Very well."

* * *

Percy didn't know whether to be glad or distraught. After a few long days of travelling, he had finally come across proof of civilization. Mind you, it was not much else. And that was not a tragedy as much for Percy as it was for whoever had lost their lives here.

Yes, Percy had come across proof that there was intelligent civilization in this mysterious world that he had been sent to. A world with a broken moon and an extraordinarily high population of shadowy monsters. This proof was in the form of a town. It seemed to exist at the end of a road that entered the town from one end, but seemed to end at the town square, and not continue further to other lands. Percy had approached the town from the side, but the path to the square was still a relatively straight forward and short one. Unfortunately, it was still long enough for Percy to have seen that a tragedy had befallen this town.

Corpses lay scattered nearly everywhere. Some were in the streets, some in fields of farms, some inside open houses. There were at least a dozen lying in the town square. Not all of the corpses were whole either. Percy had seen a couple that were missing a limb. Sometimes he could find the missing appendage nearby. Sometimes he couldn't. The people who had inhabited this town were obviously killed intentionally. Nobody's death looked like it was of a natural cause, whether heart attack or old age. And based on the lack of clean cuts and wounds, Percy could only assume that the shadowy beasts that seemed to inhabit this world were the cause.

What was truly horrifying about this sight was…well, Percy supposed that to say that the blood and gore everywhere wasn't a gruesome sight would be wrong. But rather, the image was made worse by the fact that the bodies were still there. So either whoever had killed all the attacking monsters, before running off without consideration for their neighbors' bodies. Or, what was more likely and more terrifying, was that the Shadowy monstrosities had killed these people for some reason other than for food. By that reason, these beasts weren't just hungry in an animalistic way. No. They were monsters that were directly malicious. And that was not a thought that Percy was glad to have.

Even outside of that, the sight was not good for Percy's broken and damaged mental state. The scene was something straight out of a warzone. And Percy had been in one of those quite recently. So each time he saw a corpse, it was overlayed with an image of a friend who had died in the war in a similar way. Every time he saw a limb, it was one of Beckendorf's, scattered by the explosion of the Princess Andromeda. It only took a few minutes for the tears to begin welling in his eyes.

And it was as he turned and saw another body, one of a teenager, that was soon replaced in his eyes by the body of Lee Fletcher, who died in the Battle of the Labyrinth, that Percy heard the screech. Looking up, he quickly identified the source. It was one of those shadow birds. The shadow birds were one of the various kinds of shadow creatures that he had encountered on his journey thus far. The bird seemed to have spotted him, and let out a loud caw to alert any potential allies it may have had waiting in the forest. It then proceeded to launch a volley of sharp feathers at Percy.

Percy had fought a few of these birds. And like many monsters, they had an exposable weakness. So Percy darted out of the way of the feathers. While the projectiles were relatively quick, and very dangerous to be hit by, they were not the most dangerous thing Percy had faced. Just at a first look, they were both much slower and much more visible than the arrows of The Hunt. And after enough times playing Capture the Flag against them in preparation for the Second Titan War, Percy was somewhat adequate at dodging those. So following and avoiding the path of the killer feathers was well within the scope of Percy's abilities.

Upon avoiding that first volley, Percy quickly dashed inside one of the open houses and uncapped Riptide. The weakness of the shadow birds, after all, was their intelligence. Getting down, Percy crouched right next to the doorframe, and listened.

The Nevermore, meanwhile, having seen its prey disappear, dived towards the ground near where it was last spotted. Even from the ground, however, there was no sign of its prey. Perhaps it had disappeared into one of those square wooden holes?

In the house, Percy heard the shadow bird awkwardly walking about on its bird legs, poking its head through each door it could find. Thus, Percy waited and calmed his breathing, being careful not to make a sound as he heard the bird get closer. Then, it poked its head through the open door of the house Percy was in.

The shadow bird was quick in poking its head through, so it only spotted Percy when nearly its whole head was inside, as it came eye to face with the young demigod. Noticing its prey, the bird tried to turn and bite down on its target. Unfortunately for it, it couldn't move. Realizing that it was trapped from turning by the grip that the doorframe had around its neck, the bird tried to retreat. It wasn't fast enough. In a blinding flash, Percy brought Riptide down, severing the beasts head in one swing.

It wasn't until the shadowy wisps began coming off the monster that Percy took his attention off of it. Looking around, he saw a body slumped against the back wall of the house he had chosen to hide in. It was a woman, likely a mother based on her age. The cause of death, evidently, was the gashes in her left side. One of them was deep enough, it looked, to have cut into her heart.

Thinking on the tragedy he saw across the town, Percy came to a decision. He took a deep breath, and then, capping Riptide, he walked over to the body of the woman and lifted it up, taking it outside with him as he exited through the window. Whatever had happened, Percy knew that the people of this town at least deserved to be buried. He didn't necessarily have the time for anything better than one mass grave for all of them, given that the shadow beasts were evidently still near the town. But a mass grave was better than nothing.

Hearing a roar from outside the village, Percy knew he had to hurry. He turned and begun jogging back towards the village square.

* * *

Cinder watched idly as the green trees passed by on either side of her. She was in a car on the way to Vale. She had finished up her tasks outside of Vale at this point, after all. She had obtained half of the Fall Maiden's powers. That was the most crucial one. And if she wished to take the rest, then she would have to be in Vale, and more specifically, infiltrate Beacon, in order to do so. After all, if Salem was right (and she ALWAYS was), Ozpin had hidden the Fall Maiden away with him in Beacon.

That said, there wasn't much to think about on that front yet. Any plans to obtain those powers were still months away from fruition. The Vytal Festival was the best time to assault Beacon, and all she had to do until then was build as much tension and negativity in the kingdom as she could. And for the most part, she had minions which could do that for her. She'd have to supervise, of course, but she had already succeeded in recruiting Torchwick and the White Fang for the task. So at this point, it was mostly a waiting game for her.

Instead, she used this time to think about more important things. Like the strange sensation that had overcome her a few nights ago. What frustrated her was how little she knew about it. She had no idea if it was a threat, or an ally. She had no idea if it was near or far. How dangerous it was immediately. She had no idea if it was Grimm, human, faunus, or something else entirely. Was it a weapon she could wield for herself? Was it a power, ripe for the taking? Or somebody that could be used and manipulated? And if it was a person, what might their motivations be?

Of course, perhaps a better question was on the kind of power it was. While the powers of the maiden that she had were what resonated with that she had felt, she knew that it wasn't the power of a maiden. After she had observed some of Ambers powers, she was able to detect Amber for a little bit. While they were nearby. But what she had felt out in the forest didn't feel anything like that. And the power didn't feel like the power of a Grimm. She had spent enough time near Salem, time at the birthplace of Grimm, to know that much.

It also couldn't have been more common powers to any other Huntsman or Huntress. Aura was definitely out. The uniqueness of the power made that evident. And it couldn't have been a semblance. Sure, each semblance felt different, but there were limits to how powerful semblances were. She had come across hundreds, if not thousands, in her travels. But none were at the scale of what she had felt. Plus, if it were a semblance, it would've been Cinder herself picking it up, and not the latent powers of the Fall Maiden inside her. And it couldn't have been dust. Cinder used clothes infused with dust herself. She knew exactly how dust felt, and what she had detected was most certainly not it.

_Surely Salem would know more about this power_, Cinder figured. Salem had eyes just about everywhere. She also had much more knowledge and experience than Cinder had. Unfortunately, the knowledge that Salem might know didn't help much. Cinder was going straight into the heart of what little territory Ozpin had. She would have to be careful with her movements. At least for now. She wasn't the one in control in Vale. Not yet, at least. Hopefully that would change soon. Then Cinder would have more leeway to figure out a way to contact Salem and inquire about the power that she had sensed.

Cinder sighed as she watched the trees go by on her journey to Vale. She was going into an undercover mission to sabotage her enemy and take control and power away from them. It was a concept she liked, and she had all the tools and knowledge she needed to succeed. Only one thing was missing. An unknown that she had sensed in the forest. She had no idea what it was or how to use it. And that was what worried her.

* * *

Percy released a tired sigh. _This is the last one_, he thought as he bent down to pick up the body of a young man, not much more than a boy really. It was a teenager with brown hair and brown eyes. He had a decently muscular build, presumable due to hours spent on a farm if the barn at the outskirts of town that he found the body in was any indication. Of course, perhaps the boy had just ran in there in an attempt to hide.

Percy looked down. His clothes were relatively drenched in blood at this point. A little bit of it was his own. He had sustained a couple of minor injuries over the course of his project after all. The rest was what got onto him from all the corpses he had been hauling. A rather morbid task when Percy thought about it, but somebody had to do it. Plus, the idea thought he was doing something for these people, even if their souls had already departed, helped stave off his bad memories.

Idly he wondered where the dead went in this realm. His world had an underworld, but it was reigned over by Hades, god of the underworld. Plus, those souls were usually brought there by a deity, at least according to legends. He had never really asked Annabeth whether it was true that everybody who died was brought to the underworld by Hermes or not. But this world was godless. Did it even have an underworld? And if so, was it structured into a place for the good, a place for the bad, and a place for those in between? Or was it just total chaos? And would Percy even go there if he died, or would he disappear into nothing?

Percy shook his head, and decided to put off those thoughts for later. He was almost done with his task. As he began to put one foot in front of the other, slowly heading down the road to the center of the town, he tried his best to just concentrate on his task and resist the wandering thoughts of his ADHD mind. His muscles ached. Between having hauled over a hundred bodies in the last few hours or so, and slaying even more shadow beasts than that, he was quite exhausted. He didn't really have a place to recharge. The town didn't have a well, and the area had been in a dry spell for at least the past week or so. Percy knew that in order for a town to exist out here, there had to be at least some form of a reliable water source nearby, but he hadn't had a chance to go searching yet.

Looking around, Percy noted both the shadowy bodies dissolving that almost lined the street he was on, and the odd houses. The technology of this area seemed to be quite a mix between more advanced and less advanced than what he knew. For example, there were very few cars in the small town. Nor did he see a good working water system. But the architecture was perhaps even better than a modern rural town from Earth, and in one house he found a gun that was more advanced than anything he knew. Then again, being a demigod, he probably wasn't the best person to ask on how advanced modern gun technology was.

The shadowy beasts that lined the street were also a mix of types. The most common ones were the wolves. That was unsurprising. They had been the most common monster for Percy to encounter in his travels in this world thus far. There were also a few birds, of numerous different sizes. The smallest ones were around the size of an average adult human in total mass. The largest one Percy fought while here, he remembered, was one that he had to lure out of town. It was bigger than a house, so the trick that he had normally used was ineffective. Thus, he needed to lure it to lower itself into the tree line where Percy could jump off of trees and onto it in order to attack it effectively.

There were also a number of shadowy bears. They were much stronger and more durable than the wolves. However they were relatively slow, enough so that Percy could take the time to reliably aim for the chinks and cracks in their armor. Then there were the boars. They weren't too notable either. They had a really big weak spot on their underbelly, but even the armor on their backs and heads had its vulnerable spots. Their speed was nothing too notable either, nor was its strength.

Soon Percy took a deep breath before he advanced further. As he got close to the town square, the smell hit him hard. Sure, the scent of blood and death had covered the town when he first got here, but with all the bodies in one place, it was nearly overwhelming. Percy wasn't quite ready to be holding his breath, but he had to brace himself before he took in the worst of it. Going slowly, Percy began to adjust to the smell step by step.

The town square was a gruesome sight at this point. He had piled all he could here. Whether whole bodies or just limbs, it was gathered into the center of the town. It was the most fitting spot for a mass grave after all. Chances are that nobody would really be coming back here and reoccupying this town. Not only was it the site of a small tragedy, but Percy could see why. Its defenses against the shadow creatures were minimal. He wondered if the reason why he was able to traverse so much untouched wildlife when he first entered the world was due to the fact that humanity was a less dominant species in a world filled with these creatures, or if this was just a pocket of wildlife like the Amazon Rainforest back on Earth.

Stepping into the square, Percy gently lowered the body he was holding into the pile that housed the rest. It wasn't a very tall pile. Instead it was wide and spread out. Percy didn't want to leave the bodies at the bottom crushed under the weight of dozens of others. Looking over the pile, Percy made sure to get an idea of how much was there. Then he looked at the hole he had dug for the grave. After a moment, he had decided that the hole wasn't big enough.

Widening it was an easy task for Percy. Ever since entering this realm, something had been off about his powers. He knew that much. While he hasn't extensively tried or tested anything, within the first few days, one of the changes stood out as more obvious than anything else. Percy had greater control over the ground. Previously, Percy's Earthshaker powers could create tremors and quakes. It could be used to trip up opponents and knock them off balance, and even sometimes cause massive damage with stronger quakes. But it never really controlled the Earth in the same way it did now.

Of course, that's not to say Percy had total control over the ground now. By no means could he truly shape it, and Percy didn't even know whether or not he could use his powers to tear up chunks or throw them. But he at least knew he could move the ground somewhat. So it was relatively easy to make or widen a hole, if for no reason other than due to the simplicity of the task. Percy was glad he had that now. He wasn't keen on hunting down a shovel somewhere in the town right now.

Of course, using his powers didn't really help out his tired state. So after widening the hole, he took a couple minutes to sit down and catch his breath. Idly, he decided that it wasn't just dry. It was hot out. The thought caused his mind to wander again. The train of thought brought Percy to wonder whether or not this world had seasons. There was no guarantee it did. It could be just one steady climate. After all, it was due to the story of Persephone, Hades, and Demeter that his world had seasons in the first place. Even if this world did have seasons, for all he knew, this could be their Winter. Maybe their Summer got as hot as 150 degrees Fahrenheit. _That would be a painful Summer_, Percy decided.

Of course, maybe the seasons here aligned with those on Earth. In that case, it would be the end of August right now, leaving it at one of the hottest times of the year. In that case, the heat made perfect sense in comparison to what Percy knew. That didn't mean he had to like it though.

Leaving the mental detour behind, Percy slowly got to his feet. It looked as if it was late noon by the sky. The sun was beginning to go down. Percy figured he had to finish quickly and find a place to hide for the night. Of course, as long as he wasn't out in the open, he should be fine staying in this ghost town for the night.

As he finished standing up, Percy heard a low growl. Walking around the building he had been leaning against, he saw half a dozen shadowy wolves on the street. _Speaking of dangers of the night_, Percy thought to himself as he uncapped Riptide. It seemed it was time to get back to work on both fronts.

* * *

By nightfall, Percy was soundly resting in the bed upstairs of one of the two-story houses in town. The windows, shutters, and doors were all closed. He had also weakened the floor outside his door in case he was found despite his hiding place. Hopefully, they would fall through the floor if they reached there while Percy was still asleep. That would both wake Percy up and buy him some time. Of course, if the birds chose to attack, there wasn't much he could do for an early warning system. Hopefully the house collapsing him would serve to at least wake him up.

Lying in bed, Percy reflected back on the day briefly. It was perhaps the most significant day he had in this world since the first day that he had arrived. After all, his worries that he might be the only sentient lifeform in this world had been quelled. And based on the bodies, the world wasn't inhabited by some strange alien species (or at least, not ONLY by some strange alien species), but by humans with a similar culture to what he knew. Of course, that didn't mean there were no problems on that front.

For example, what about languages? While Percy had seen some books in the houses he entered, he hadn't really looked at them or tried to read them. He had no idea if he could read them. Well…on second thought that wouldn't tell him anything. He was dyslexic after all. Even still, the chances were high that they used characters that didn't exist in Percy's world. Even if they did, the chance that he shared a language with the first humans that he came into contact with in this world was low. Hopefully there were some English, Greek, or Latin speakers somewhere on this world.

In addition to discovering humans, Percy also had set himself to bury the tragic incident that occurred here. And he made some good progress too. Really good progress. He was mostly done, in fact. He would still have to find something to mark the grave, and decide what to write on it. Even if nobody else could read it, there would still be something there to honor them. And that much, Percy knew, would help his own peace of mind.

Then there were the objects. Percy didn't really want to be a grave robber, but he knew this opportunity wasn't something he could let pass by. Perhaps he could find bread or un-perishables or something that Percy could safely and reliably eat. After that, Percy hoped he could find whatever seemed to be this world's money, if he could identify it, and take that. Along with any seemingly valuables, and maybe the weapons if he could figure out how they worked and could bring them along without seriously slowing himself down.

Of course, that would be for tomorrow. For now, it was time to rest.

* * *

Morning saw Percy hauling a fence post and a large wooden board from one of the houses to the center of the village. He could've tried to look for a stone. It would've been a better marker and would better withstand the test of time. However, Percy simply didn't have the tools necessary to cut stone. So a wooden sign to mark the graves would have to do. In his back pocket was some rope he had snagged.

The night's sleep had been good on Percy. Being hidden inside, it was safer than most of the sleep he had gotten here. So he was able to get a few good hours of rest without interruption from any shadow beasts. Coincidentally, he had been tired enough that he practically passed out, which resulted in no nightmares of the war. Between those two things, he was better rested this morning than he had been since arriving in this new world. When he woke up, Percy had gotten out of bed within a minute or so. He had been fully dressed and armed from the moment he woke up, so he simply hopped over his self-made trap and was out of the house within the next minute.

Although he had been bleary eyes when he walked out of the house, he wasn't in morning-mode for long. He was fully awake from the adrenaline that rushed through him at around the same time that he reached the house that he found the supplies he needed in. The shadows dissolving around that house was a testament as to why.

When he reached the center of the village again, Percy was glad to note that the bodies being buried underground did much to hide the smell of blood and gore. Not that that was surprising. But it was still a benefit that he had to count his blessings for. Between the good rest, and the fact that he wasn't getting sensory torture through scent, today was already shaping up to be a decent day.

That was, until he put the sign together. It was easy to lay it on the ground and lash the two pieces of wood together. It was a survival skill that Percy had learned at Camp Half Blood, and a relatively simple one at that. Therefore, making the sign wasn't really a problem. No, the problem was what to write on it. Initially, Percy planned to write something along the lines of "Here lay the inhabitants of _. Long may they rest in peace." The only problem was, Percy didn't know what the village he was in was actually called.

It seemed now would be a good opportunity to learn whether or not he could read this world's characters. Percy figured that if he would be able to find the village's name anywhere, it would be some sort of welcome sign at the front of the village. Well, that or a map, but Percy could find the front of the village much easier than he could hunt down a map in all these buildings. So he identified the main road and trekked to the village entry way.

To his pleasant surprise, Percy found that he could in fact recognize the characters used. They were the same as those of Earth's common alphabet. And even more to his surprise, his dyslexia didn't seem to act up as he read the name "Daison Village". Just to make sure, however, he used his finger to trace the letters carved in the wood.

The smile that had begun growing as he traced the letters slipped off quite quickly when Percy heard a screeching above him. He was already sighing as he turned.

* * *

Ozpin was still torn about what to do. It wasn't hard for him and James to come to an agreement as to the best plan to take. While they may disagree on what to do with limited information, they did not have limited information in this situation. They had NO information. And that meant that scouts came first.

James had been quick to explain to Ozpin that such a thing meant that the task was only suitable for a Huntsman or Huntress. His robots did not have the mental capacity to scout for information, especially with such few guidelines and a need for discretion. No, it would take human instincts and intuition to even begin to discern the useless information from whatever might be relevant to the task. And the standard soldiers of the Atlesian army, while effective in larger units and with teamwork, were ultimately useless in covert small-group missions in a Grimm-infested wilderness with low resources.

That didn't mean that Ozpin was on his own. After explaining the status of his most trusted Huntsman and how they were pretty much all busy, Ironwood was able to volunteer one of his Special Ops units for the task. It was a start, Ozpin knew, and potentially a better one than he expected. Ozpin still wanted somebody, not only that he trusted and knew, but who was also aware of the higher powers in Remnant to be on the task.

It was then that Ozpin realized that he had somebody who he could trust that wasn't on a mission at the moment. While he had been the least notable member of his team, that didn't mean he was incompetent. In fact, while not stand-out, especially given the team he was on, he was one of the most solid, well-rounded, and trustworthy Huntsman that Ozpin knew. He was like an unmovable rock in that sense. He had only escaped Ozpin's thoughts because he rarely partook on any missions anymore. But that didn't mean that he was no longer capable.

Normally, Ozpin wouldn't send teachers out on missions. Not ones that weren't low-level missions where they accompanied and guided students, anyways. This went double so for teachers of the younger children, the teachers who worked at Pre-Huntsman schools, like Signal. But it was Summer, so the huntsman was off his usual teaching duty. And the situation was quite desperate.

With a sigh, Ozpin picked up his scroll and looked through his list of contacts to the name he was looking for. Soon enough, there it was.

_Taiyang Xiao Long_.

* * *

It was as the sun hit high noon that Percy stood up from where he was sitting on the body of a shadow boar. His hunt through the village was surprisingly fruitful. He had found what seemed to be a decent amount of money after all. He suspected it would've been on everybody's person, and therefore would've been buried with them, but it turned out that Percy was wrong. He had found a few hundred Lien throughout his search.

That's what this world's currency was called, if he was reading the cards right. _Lien_. Percy found it to be an odd form of currency. Metal coins were somewhat durable. And because Paper bent easy, it didn't break easily. Not without actually trying to tear it, anyways. Plus, as paper, U.S. Dollars, could be folded and stored easier. The plastic cards that were Lien seemed to be illogical. That said, it was money none the less. And therefore quite valuable to Percy right now.

Beyond that, Percy had found a map. Now he knew where he might be able to find a couple other nearby villages. If he was lucky, they might actually have living inhabitants, even. The map was stored with what food Percy could find in a sack that was slung over his shoulder. With the exception of the map, nothing in that bag would be too valuable if he lost it. Sure, the canned food and artificial (and therefore non-perishable) candy would make Percy's life much easier for the next couple of days, but he could still hunt. There was also a box of cereal in there. It was the only unopened one that he found in town. The cereal itself seemed to resemble the lucky charms of his world. The box was yellow, and oddly enough to Percy, also featured a young red-haired girl holding what appeared to be a sword on the cover.

The crown jewel of Percy's search rested on his hip. Well actually, that was wrong. A belt and holster rested on Percy's hip. The crown Jewel was within the holster. It was a weapon. A unique one, that seemed to be proof that this world's technology was more advanced than that of Earth. At first, it had just looked like an oddly mechanical combat knife to Percy, with a length of about nine inches. But after some fiddling, he found that it transformed into a handgun. It was unlike anything Percy had ever seen before. Now he had it loaded with one clip. The four others that were in his sack were of equal size, containing six bullets each.

It would be no replacement to Riptide of course. The bronze sword was many things to Percy at this point. It was a partner, that saved Percy more times than he could count. It was a weapon, that was like an extension of himself. It was a familiarity, that Percy trusted with his life. And it was a memento, one of the last things Percy had of Earth. No weapon, no matter how advanced, would be able to replace Riptide, and even if he was given a thousand better options, Riptide would always be Percy's weapon of choice.

That said, even with Riptide's ability to return to Percy, he had been disarmed before. A backup weapon was always nice. On top of that, a ranged weapon could definitely have its uses. Well, assuming Percy was literally _**any**_ better with a gun than a bow.

Soon after getting up, Percy left the town square and continued onto the main road, finally ready to continue his journey beyond this small town. He had a small smile on his face. And behind him, if one looked closely, it would seem as though the sun was smiling too. This world may not have had any gods, but to a careful observer, it would be almost impossible not to believe some higher force was responsible for the way the sun shone brightly on the small dirt mound, and the carefully hand-carved wooden marker atop it.

* * *

**A/N: 'Well, chapters over. It's been what a week since my first chapter came out? Hopefully this one does my opening justice. I'm keeping as many cards as I can close to the chest right now. It was amusing to read the reviews saying that they liked how this concept and idea was different and new. I mean no offense, but I'd be surprised if any of you knew my end goals and plot points for the story. Having said that, I'm grateful for the support I've received, and I hope that I'll be able to keep satisfying. And if I'm not satisfying, speak up! I'd love to hear how I can do better. **

**I'd also like to call out and note the review of Elysiis. I liked how you worded it-"a good point of power **_**that connects well with your plot**_**." Percy's power is one of the things that I won't budge easy on. I won't reveal exactly how strong I want him to be, not yet. That said, so much of Remnant is determined by who has how much power and knowledge, and how they can use it to influence those around them. And this story is in large about Percy's influence on Remnant. So the tools that he uses, such as power and balance, will need to be kept exactly where I want them. If anyone can give me a good reason why I should do something about his power from both a logical in-world and a story-telling perspective, I'll consider making a change. But otherwise, I'm keeping the hand that I'm currently holding. **

**As ending questions, I'm curious: What do you think about Taiyang being given a role in the story already? Are you excited? I must admit, I'm nervous. After all, outside of his hand-to-hand skill, we know next to nothing about Tai's actually capabilities as a hunstsman. No knowledge on his semblance or weapon or anything. **

**All reviews and PMs are welcome. I'd love to see what you think. Until next time!'**

-TheeLoreMaster


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long. I had a lot to deal with. First some studying for an exam I had that interestingly enough wasn't school related. Then my comp crashed and I had to get that fixed. Then my internet crashed and I had to get that fixed. But between those, I actually had to completely reset my computer, and lost Microsoft word. I don't feel like spending the money to get word right now, but I really need to get started on writing this chapter. So...I'm using the free Libre Office. I'll switch back to word whenever I figure out what the cheapest way to get Microsoft Offices back is. For now, however...let's make progress.**

**Also, I'd like to address the concerns about the Curse of Achilles you all had. I will admit, I wasn't really thinking about that when writing Percy's powers thus far. While I was trying to fix my issues with my computer, I spent a while debating on whether or not Percy should have the Curse. Eventually, I landed on no. Simply put, he isn't in Greek territory anymore. I imagine it like heading into Alaska. I know Percy had already lost the curse by then, but if he didn't do you think he would've lost it heading into an area where Greek gods held no power? I believe so, which is why he won't have the Curse of Achilles in the story. I'll acknowledge that he won't have it, but Percy won't have had the experience of going to Alaska and crossing the roman river needed to figure out why, so it'll only be explained in this Author's Note. That's why I'm putting the explanation here.**

**Final thing I need to do is acknowledge a few reviews-**

**Elysiis- Firstly, let me thank you for trying to boost my confidence about my decision to use Taiyang. And while I'm not sure about putting Percy's past to play when it comes to dealing with Qrow (as although it makes sense, I rather like Qrow, as many RWBY fans do), I like your insight into potential options for Taiyang's semblance. As far as using Winter, Atlas special forces is another thing I've thought about. Are they teams? Or do they go solo? Do I want to have Percy meet Winter sooner? Or would it be more interesting to have him have some other interaction with Atlas Special Forces first? Don't get me wrong, Winter will be used. To not do so would be a waste. The only questions are how soon? And in what way?**

**Darknaim-I thank you for bringing this piece of lore to my notice. Honestly, I love the idea you present. And the options it brings. While I'm not yet sure of what I'm going to do with this, it's definitely something I want to do something with.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or RWBY.**

* * *

Percy had become quite grateful for his increased skill in earth manipulation in the past few week since he left Daison Village. He wondered, in fact, why he hadn't practiced at least a little with it before. Being able to create earthen shelters for the night was becoming quite the blessing. While they weren't perfect, if they were a couple feet underground, the fact that he was hidden became a much better protection than the walls of the shelter themselves. From there it was just the matter of making sure that he had enough small air holes to allow him to breather properly, and trusting on his internal clock to wake him up instead of the sunlight of dawn.

There was only one danger to the relying on an earthen shelter. It boxed him in. He knew it was dawn at this point, and that he was wasting daylight just sitting around. Even if he couldn't really see the daylight. The problem was the footsteps that he heard over him. Whether he had been detected or not wasn't quite clear to Percy.

Ultimately, however, Percy supposed that there was no real point in waiting around. He may as well get to work. After all, even if the shadow creatures that surely lay in wait just overhead left, they'd still be near enough to track him when he exited. So he uncapped Riptide and stood to a crouching position. Then he placed his palm against the ceiling. And quaked.

In a burst of energy, he tore up the ground all around him. Above, below, to the sides, it didn't matter. Deprived of their balance and the ground they stood on, the shadow creatures that he had heard fell into sight around him as the sunlight began to stream in from the shattered ceiling of his crude bunker. Caught off-guard and off-balance, each and every creature around him was fall of openings and weaknesses. And with sword in hand, Percy struck like lightning.

By the time the dust had settled, Percy was slowly walking out of a crater more than 200 hundred feet across. And there were well over a dozen shadowy bodies dissolving at the bottom of it. He was lightly scuffed, by some of the falling debris, but not much more. He had made sure to use the confusion to avoid taking any hits. He couldn't be careless without any ambrosia, nectar, or medical supplies. Well, maybe he could've been if he still had the Curse of Achilles. But he didn't. He wasn't entirely certain why. Perhaps it had been locked away by teleporting to a new world, as his demigod powers had originally seemed to be? But in that case, shouldn't he have unlocked them when he had re-awoken his powers on the first night he was here?

It didn't really matter either way. Percy hadn't had the curse for all that long. He had spent much more time fighting without it, and it took very little to return to the style that he had honed for so long before he received the curse. He had survived for a long time in his world without it, and he had survived quite well without it in this world thus far. He didn't have much reason to be worried.

"Now," Percy mused, eyes shielding his eyes as he looked up to the sky in time to see the very end of the sunrise. "Where was the road?"

* * *

Taiyang yawned as he trudged along the road. His footsteps were still a little heavy and his body posture was slouched. Yet in spite of his tired look, he was very much aware of his surroundings. He was a trained and experienced huntsman after all. Well, trained, experienced, and rusty. Taiyang knew full well that he might die on this mission.

Well, any huntsman could die on any mission. It was a dangerous world after all, and arrogance could and would kill even the best of warriors. But this mission might be the most dangerous one he would ever undertake. Taiyang wasn't stupid after all. He could see the writing on the walls.

It was clear to Tai why he was the one Ozpin entrusted this mission to. Tai was on possibly the best team Beacon had produced in the last hundred years. He was experienced, driven, and skilled, even if not quite as much as the teammates he was on. After all, the saying went that a team was only as strong as its weakest link. And while he may have been the weakest link on the strongest team, it still meant that he was good enough to work with the best of the best without holding them down. On top of his team being one of the best, they were also one of Ozpin's most trusted.

That said, Tai was rusty. It was a fact. He hadn't been on the field in a decade. More than that. Even if he was just as fit as he was back in his prime, his senses were dulled. And possibly even more important than that, so were his instincts. And in a profession like his, instincts could mean everything. On top of that, he was used to living with comforts and resources. The hard life on the road was something that he was no longer adjusted to, and it was beginning to show despite the fact that he had only set off a couple of days ago.

Perhaps the fact that he had even accepted this call to action was a sign of his rust, Tai mused. It would be a potential suicide mission even if he was in his prime. First off, it was a solo mission. All on his own out here, he couldn't afford to make mistakes. He didn't have a team with which to perform watch shifts. He had to sleep lightly and on high guard. He couldn't afford to break or rest. Delaying his time of arrival to any village on the map could be a death sentence. He couldn't carry a lot of supplies on his own without sacrificing crucial mobility and time. Each journey to a village would push his limits. If a village he expected to be there had been destroyed, the delay on restocking his supplies and having a safe rest point would put him into crisis.

On top of going solo, it was a mission with barely existent parameters. Ozpin simply had a feeling of something out there, a strong one that he had only detected due to having whatever magic he still had. And Ozpin wanted Tai to find out what it was. This made it a mission with no clear objective. He didn't even know whether what he was looking for was a human, a grimm, or something else. The didn't know where it was, or even how far away it was. Just the knowledge of which general direction Ozpin felt the sensation come from. He didn't know whether the thing was an ally or an enemy. And if it was an enemy, and one that made Ozpin as anxious as he had seemed when they met, then fighting it alone would be suicide. On top of all of this, the mission had no end date. It could be nothing and Tai would never know, stuck searching for the rest of his life. Or at least, that's assuming he didn't call an ending to the mission first.

Ozpin wasn't an idiot. Ozpin knew exactly how dangerous and vague the mission that he was giving to Tai was. That's why Tai had express orders to prioritize his life, and not engage if what he found was an enemy. On top of that, if Tai felt that the mission had went on too long, or that there were no clues, or that the area was too dangerous, he had permission from Ozpin to call it quits and return home. The fact that he had these safety nets, however slight, were one of the only reasons Taiyang accepted the mission in the first place.

The other major reason was that he trusted his daughters. He was confident that they would be able to handle themselves. Yang, his eldest, was going into Beacon next year. She graduated from Signal near the top of her class. In fact, she was unrivaled when it came to the combat aspects. And Ruby was at the top of her class in Signal as well. While she wasn't the most studious, she at least averaged a B plus in all academic subjects. She followed Yang's footsteps in being unrivaled in the combat aspects. In fact, with Yang going to Beacon, Ruby would surely be the undisputed queen in all Huntsman and Huntress based classes. Which, given that Signal was a prep school for Beacon, was pretty much three quarters of the curriculum. They also lived in a safe neighborhood, and shared a very close bond. He knew that even if trouble were to befall one of them, they would be safe in the other one's hands. Plus, he had all of his friends in the Beacon and Signal schools' staff to be confident in their safety.

Most importantly, his daughters were driven. If Tai were to fall on this mission, they'd both be strong enough to move forward, on towards their dreams. While they might stumble in their respective paths, nothing would stop them now. And soon, if he was right, they'd be strong enough to entrust Vale to them as well. And so Taiyang trudged forward on the road, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, and knowing that not only were his daughters in good hands, but that soon enough, the world would be in his daughters' good hands.

* * *

It was a little before noon on the 17th day after Percy had left Daison village that Percy finally came across another town. And based on the moving humanoid figures that he could just barely make out in the streets from this distance, Percy figured that his experience with this village might be a little better. As such, he put a smile on his face, one to hide the pain of the losses that he still carried with him, and advanced forward, readying himself for the first human interaction he would experience in more than three weeks.

As he made his way over to the small village, Percy prepared himself to do some acting and improvisation. He didn't know the people of this world at all. He didn't know what their society or beliefs were like. And most importantly, he didn't know what their attitude to outsiders might be. It wasn't entirely impossible that the world he entered was at war. It seemed to Percy that the constant threat that the shadowy creatures seemed to pose would be enough to allow people to put their prejudices aside, but Percy wasn't naive enough to assume that would be the case without proof. He had lived through the cruelties of Gabe and the superiority complexes of the Olympian gods. He had seen how the campers had treated Tyson before they got to know him. And while he had been able to overcome some of the hunters prejudices against men, he was able to do so in part because he was knew that said prejudice existed, and was able to respect it.

As Percy approached the village, he saw a few people rush out to meet him. Looking closer, they seemed to be armed guards. Curious but weary, Percy slightly tensed as he fingered Riptide in his pocket. He wouldn't enter a battle position but he made sure he was ready to react if he needed to.

Fortunately, it seemed to him that his precautions were unnecessary. When the guards got close enough for Percy to make out their eyes, he noticed that they seemed to be looking all over, weary of everything but him. Percy could faintly hear one of them call "Spread out and cover him to the village!"

Worried at the reaction, Percy glanced behind himself to see if a shadowy beast had snuck up behind him, but no such thing had occurred. Relaxing himself, Percy let them all pass behind him into a fanned out formation. The leader approached hurriedly.

"Hello sir," he started respectfully. "You must've been quite lucky to survive the hardships of the road. You don't have to worry about the Grimm anymore. We'll cover you to safety."

It took a moment for Percy to process the statement. But soon enough the reaction began to make sense to him. With the area being so full of the shadowy creatures, it must be difficult for travelers who aren't trained warriors to make the journey to this village. Those who did were probably wounded and tired at the very least, if not hungry and thirsty from being low on supplies as well. The entourage was probably to safely escort and carry back and travellers who were on their last legs and being fueled only by willpower.

Of course, Percy was a trained warrior, a demigod in fact. So he was by no means in such a dire condition. But without any visible weaponry on him, that was by no means obvious. If nothing else, it would at least be polite to recognize their efforts, however pointless they may be.

"Thank you for the protection." It was a short and flat response, but at least it acknowledged their efforts. As sarcastic as he may usually be, Percy wasn't really interested in making enemies with the first people he came across in this world.

With their purpose stated, the guard began to move onto the next step if what Percy assumed must be a common greeting to travelers in this dangerous land. "We'd like to hurry back to the safety of the village walls. Would you mind being carried to safety?"

It seemed to Percy that the guard was asking for permission to pick up and carry Percy so that the guards could run.

"Don't worry about me," Percy responded with a small grin. "I promise I can keep up." The guard gave a bit of a sideways look at Percy. For a moment he wondered if he had somehow insulted the guard, but the guard gave a bit of a smile.

"Very well." Then he turned to the rest of the guards. "Retreat to town!"

"Yes sir!" came the shouted answer. It was well timed as one. They seemed to be a fairly disciplined guard force. Percy supposed they'd have to be.

As one, they all started running. It was a decent pace for an average human. Better than decent, considering the armor they wore. But it was by no means impressive for a demigod. In fact, it was actually slow for Percy.

Before long, Percy and the guards had entered the village. The guards split up almost immediately. A few returned to their posts, a couple decided to get a drink of water or something, and one just sat down, leaned against the wall, and dozed off. Percy figured that wasn't really a good idea given the shadowy creatures outside. Then again, if he had comrades who were taking watches, maybe sleeping to conserve energy wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The only guard remaining, the one that seemed to be the leader of the lot, turned to Percy. "Welcome to our humble village, traveler." He took off his helmet, revealing a brown-haired man with a noticeable but well-kept beard and green eyes. He was maybe thirty at oldest. He gave Percy a small smile. "What, exactly, is your name? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Percy hesitated. He wasn't sure if he wanted to give his real name. He wasn't sure how dangerous this land was, beyond these shadowy monsters that existed here. He wasn't sure how these beasts were fought either. He didn't know whether or not he'd need to use his powers to defend people. And if he did, he didn't know whether or not he'd want to use a fake name to hide his identity so he could live a more normal life. But he figured he didn't really have a way to disguise himself, so he may as well just use his actual name.

"Percy. Percy Jackson." He reached out with his hand to shake the man's. The man grabbed Percy's hand and returned the gesture. It was only after the two had shaken hands that Percy realized that he had no reason to believe that the people of this society shook hands in a greeting. He considered himself lucky that it wasn't taken as some sort of threat. It seemed that Nemesis had teleported him to a world with a society very similar to his own.

"I'm Nick Garde. I guess I'll be showing you around town. But before we get to that, have you been hurt by the Grimm out there? Do you need treatment?"

Having a little bit more time to think now, Percy recognized that Nick had used the word Grimm outside of the village as well. It seemed to be what these people called the shadowy beasts, if he assumed correct. It was good to know so early on what people called these things without having to ask directly.

"No, I'm fine. I'm a little sore and tired, but nothing more than that," Percy replied. Nick raised his eyebrow a little at that.

"Fended em off with nothing more than a standard issue guard pistol? You must be quite something in a fight, huh?"

"I've had good teachers."

"Really? Well, you look a little young to be a Huntsman. You in training then? Didn't realize the academies accepted them so young." Unfortunately, Percy had no idea how to respond to this. The best he could do was assume that Huntsman were people trained to fight against these Grimm, given that Nick's statement was is reaction to Percy mentioning his teachers. But without any more knowledge than that, Percy figured that a non-response would be the best way to go.

"So, how was Daison Village? It's been a while since I've been down that way," Nick started as he and Percy began walking down the main road. Percy merely turned his eyes to the ground.

"..." He sighed. "It's..." He paused, unsure of how to continue. He didn't know if Nick had any friends in Daison, but he didn't want anyone to have to experience the losses that he had recently. Still, stating the truth would be better than trying to hide Daison's end from everybody.

Percy didn't really need to say anything though. Nick seemed to have picked up on Percy's silence, and had turned to look at him while he was debating on what to do. The downcast look in Percy's eyes told the guard everything he needed to know.

"Oh..." Percy turned up to see the tears in the guard's eyes. "Is it…?"

Percy closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. "It's gone. I'm sorry for your loss." Percy paused again, as the two of them stopped in the middle of the street to let Nick absorb the information. "If it's any consolation, at least I was able to give anyone I found a proper burial."

Even as he teared up a little more with whatever memories of Daison's residents were surfacing, Nick gave a small, sad smile. "Thanks. They deserved at least that much." Nick rose his arm to his eyes and tried to wipe the tears a way. It wasn't very effective, but it at least seemed to help him center his emotions.

"Why don't I try looking around for myself, Nick? You look like you need at least the rest of today to mourn."

Quickly, Nick thanked him and ran off. After the guard disappeared into what Percy assumed was some sort of barracks for the town's guards, Percy turned and faced the rest of the town. Suddenly, the day seemed a little less sunny.

* * *

Home felt different than normal for Ruby. Perhaps even...lonely. It was a little strange for someone as socially awkward as Ruby to feel lonely. She didn't have a whole lot of friends at school. For the most part, she just hung out with her older sister, Yang. Between being quite possibly the best up and coming huntress at Signal in the past couple decades, and being the daughter of a teacher and niece of another, most people assumed she was the 'teacher's pet' type of person. She really wasn't. She wanted to have friends to do fun things with. She wanted to rebel and keep secrets and break the rules as much as everyone else. But nobody ever got close enough to her to figure that out, and she was a bit too afraid to approach anybody and tell them herself. It never really bothered her. She always had her sister, Yang, and that was plenty for her.

Of course, Yang was out of the house now. That wasn't uncommon. Yang would often go into the city of Vale to hang out with her friends, or search for information on her mother. But Yang would be leaving for Beacon in a couple of months. And that wouldn't be nearly as quick. It would be plenty longer than a couple of days, in fact. It would be for the whole school year, at least. Well, except Holiday break. The knowledge of Yang's incoming departure hung over the whole house, and everything felt a little different. Yang's trips into the city were more noticeable, more pronounced than ever to Ruby. It scared her.

Of course, she wouldn't be all alone. She was just as close with her dad as she was with Yang. So she figured the house wouldn't be completely empty. She'd just have to get her dad to look away from work a little bit more. Maybe they'd bake cookies together twice a week instead of just once, or something like that.

That's what Ruby had thought until a few days ago. Now, it seemed more and more like she'd just be spending next year all alone. After all, her dad had gotten a mission. It didn't seem like a short one, either. Her dad couldn't give her much details. All Ruby knew was that the mission was Top Secret, and had an indeterminate duration. Her dad had packed a lot of stuff, and seemed to spend the couple days before he left worrying. A lot. She hadn't let him know that she saw. But she saw. And she was worried.

Still, worrying wouldn't help him. Worrying wouldn't make him come back sooner, or make Yang stay home for the next year. Worrying was pointless. All Ruby could do now was train, and make sure that they weren't disappointed when they came home. She was a prodigy, even in a family of talent. All she could do now is make sure she followed through on it, and had surpassed all expectations when they came back.

So she hoisted her scythe, Crescent Rose, off of her back and into a ready position as she practiced the scythe form that her Uncle Qrow had taught her.

* * *

By the time dusk had set upon the town, Percy found himself sitting in a tavern. He wasn't really interested in trying the alcohol, but it had decent food, so it was as good a place as any for dinner. Of course, the tavern was a bit busier than usual. It seemed there were more than a few people drinking their sorrows away. Percy never really intended to announce Daison's end to the people of Oarshed Village. However the village was small enough that Percy being new didn't exactly go unnoticed. That led into conversations of where he came from, followed by questions about Daison's wellbeing. Combine that with the rumor mill, and Daison's demise was public knowledge by the time Percy turned in for dinner.

That news had significantly overshadowed Percy's arrival. It was something Percy found himself grateful. It let him lay a bit lower than he would otherwise, and brought less questions about Percy's lack of what should be common knowledge. This, of course, helped Percy gather information easier through observation and eavesdropping.

While he didn't know a lot, he did know that Daison and Oarshed were both village's in the Kingdom of Vale's territory. However, they weren't part of the main city itself, and that left them less fortified from Grimm attacks. Speaking of Grimm, they were in fact the shadowy beasts that Percy had been fighting, and they seemed to be a worldwide threat. Huntsmen and Huntresses were superhuman warriors that defended the populace against the Grimm, and they went through special education to do so. Or rather, most did. Some people could test to become Huntsmen or Huntresses without the education, but very few did. While other people could still fight the Grimm, they were far less effective without the training.

Percy had also learned that Vale was one of 4 major kingdoms, although he couldn't get the names of the other 4 without asking. And Percy didn't want to ask too many questions about common knowledge. All 4 kingdoms seemed to be at peace currently, at least in terms of their relationships to each other. Percy assumed they all had their own Huntsmen training schools, although he wasn't certain. The only huntsmen training school he ever heard brought up in conversation was Beacon, which it seemed to him was located in Vale.

As for technology, they definitely had electricity. They had lights, computers, and television. They also had something similar to cellphones, apparently known as scrolls. Scrolls were super thin cellphones with what a touchscreen that was located between a right and left handhold. Somehow, the handholds could be pushed close without damaging the touchscreen. It didn't make sense to Percy, but he tried not to think about it too much.

Lastly, it seemed to Percy that most of life was within whatever capital city of each of the 4 kingdoms. Those cities all had sufficient walls, military, and numbers of huntsmen to reliably defend themselves from the Grimm. Most other attempts at civilization wound up being doomed to failure sooner or later. It kind of made Percy wonder why these people weren't inside one of the cities, but Percy figured there had to be some reason.

Percy was pretty happy of the information he had gathered thus far. There were still plenty of questions, mostly surrounding Grimm and the Huntsmen, but that could wait for tomorrow. For now, Percy was happy with having a meal and getting some rest inside a defended town.

The meal itself was venison. Apparently, it had been brought back by the town's hunters. It was important to make the distinction between hunters and Huntsmen/Huntresses. One got food, the other were basically made out to be the shields of humanity against the Grimm. The venison was decent. There wasn't a whole lot to go with it, unfortunately. Hastily constructed walls to make sure the village was safe left little room for farmland, and dangerous roads made exports and imports difficult. Percy wasn't certain what that meant for the future of the village. He just knew it meant that there weren't any fruits or vegetables to go with the meat.

The meal itself was a little odd. Besides the lack of balanced nutrients, anyway. It wasn't until after Percy was sitting back from the food to just sit and listen to the tavern's music that he realized what seemed off. He hadn't sacrificed to the gods. It wouldn't have done anything, of course. Percy had been told by Nemesis that this land had no gods. But to forgo the habit was still a little strange. Percy figured he'd just have to get used to it. There wasn't much else he could do.

It was an hour later that Percy left the bar. By that time, it was very crowded and full of tears. Percy was glad that Daison was being mourned. It would be a shame for anybody to go completely unremembered after their passing. Of course, that line of thought only brought back the memories of the demigods who had lost their lives defending Olympus. And so with tears in his eyes, and the mourning of a different set of lost souls on his mind, Percy wandered upstairs to the room he had gotten to get some shut-eye.

* * *

When Percy woke in the middle of the night, he immediately knew something was off. It had taken him less than a second to role out of bed, Riptide in hand. Within a couple seconds after that, he realized what was off. It was the screams of terror, the loud roars, and the squawking. The light coming in from under the window curtains was also too bright for the middle of the night.

Briskly, Percy strode up to the window and tore the curtains wide. And his mouth dropped a little in horror. The first thing he noticed was that the building across the street was on fire. So were a couple others further away if he saw correctly. There were also Grimm in the streets. Bear ones, wolf ones, and a few boar ones. There were bird Grimm in the skies too. There were people fleeing in terror, and people hiding. Even more, there were people dying. There were a few guards doing their best to hold off the Grimm, but they were being overwhelmed by numbers. Even without the number advantage, the bear and bird Grimm seemed to be beyond these guards' capability. The only one thriving was a black haired man wielding two short swords with speed and strength beyond what a typical human could do. But he was surrounded, and by Percy's eye, way too reckless. Even this man, who Percy figured was the resident Huntsman that he heard about, would be overwhelmed soon. Percy knew he had to act. So as one of the bird Grimm flew by, Percy crashed through the windows.

Landing on the Grimm, Percy drove his sword into the beast's neck. The bird was massive, spanning more than 3 houses with its wingspan. Most huntsmen wouldn't have accomplished much with such a strike. But Percy wasn't most huntsmen. And more importantly, Riptide wasn't most weapons. So the blade cleaved right through the bird's neck. It was already dissolving by the time it crashed into the ground. There weren't any Grimm quite where Percy landed. But he knew from his quick look from the window that down the street there was a line of guardsmen trying to hold the Grimm at bay. That would be Percy's first destination.

* * *

**A/N: 'Sorry for the wait. I have to admit, I rushed this chapter's ending. I was going to cover the whole battle for the town. But I decided to end here for a few reasons.**

**1-I'm not ready to write an extended battle right now. I have to put a lot of thought into how to make it more interesting than just 'Percy slashes this, Percy cuts that. Percy dodges this and counterattacks.' It's not like I can't be more descriptive and paint a picture of it to you. But even then, it would be tedious and boring to read. I know because I've been reading tedious fight scenes on this site for almost a decade. At first they were cool, but after the first few years they just got tedious. I want to be better than that.**

**2-You guys have already waited long enough, and I didn't feel like adding in another few thousand words when my classes for college start tomorrow.**

**3-I got tired of writing this bit. I have a lot of ideas for stories floating around in my head, and even if I don't want to write the full stories write now, they're just too interesting to leave locked up in my head without presenting a basic concept to somebody to see what they think. Who knows, maybe I'll pose them as ideas that any of you can take up if you want to.**

**Speaking of the last one, expect soon another story added to my account. If it's not the first chapter for something else, it's an idea pitch for you guys to look at, mull over, take up for yourselves, or give to somebody else if you think they'd do a good job with it.**

**ANYWAYS, having said all of that, I'm going to finish that up. Let me know of what you thought. All comments, both compliments or criticisms, will be accepted. I look forward to seeing what you all think.**

**Bye!'**

**-TheeLoreMaster**


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